Apparatus for producing prefabricated bows

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for mechanically fabricating prefabricated bow forms from two strips of decorative ribbon material and including a drawstring partially bonded to the ribbon, said apparatus comprising a ribbon and drawstring supply, motor means, a ribbon bonding assembly for bonding said ribbon materials together at spaced points, a ribbon advancing means and a ribbon cut-off means. A simple method of forming decorative bows from the prefabricated bow forms is also disclosed, said method comprising accumulating the bonded areas of said prefabricated bow forms one upon another, simultaneously forming loops of ribbon on either side of said bonded areas, by means of the drawstring.

United States Patent 1 1 Pearson et al.

[111 3,790,041 [451 Feb. 5, 1974 APPARATUS FOR PRODUCING PREFABRICATEDBOWS [75] Inventors: Walter C. Pearson, St. Paul; Edward R. Quinn,Burnsville; Dorman N. Thompson, North St. Paul, all of Minn.

[73] Assignee: Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, St. Paul,Minn.

[22 Filed: Apr 15,1971

21 App1.No.: 134,130

Related U.S. Application Data [60] Division of Ser. No. 320, Jan. 2,1970, Pat. Nd. 3,637,455, and a continuation-in-part of Ser. No.791,992, Jan. 17, 1969, abandoned.

[52] U.S. Cl 223/46, 156/70, 156/290,

156/383, 156/548, 156/583, 161/9, 161/49, 161/148 [51] Int. Cl. A41h43/00, D04d 7/10 [58] Field of'Search..... 156/70, 290, 583, 291, 383,156/226, 227, 548, 179, 250, 269, 272, 273, 274, 436, 52 2, 533, 578;161/9, 10,49, 140, 148; 2/244, 300; 28/2; 93/l.5; 112/410, 411;

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,171,259

8/1939 Scott ..156/262 3,115,564 12/1963 Stacy 219/19 3,318,497 5/1967Nimmo, Jr... 223/46 3,284,267 1 1/1966 Buck et al.... 156/383 3,411,41911/1968 Becker et al..... 156/290 X 3,037,900 6/1962 Hings et al 156/547X 2,909,308 10/1959 Darata 223/46 2,226,766 12/1940 Gordon et a1 156/522X 2,849,821 9/1958 Doig 161/10 Primary Examiner-George F. LesmesAssistant Examiner-Henry F. Epstein Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Kinney,Alexander, Sell, Steldt & Delahunt [57] I ABSTRACT Apparatus formechanically fabricating prefabricated bow forms from two strips ofdecorative ribbon material and including a drawstring partially bondedto the ribbon, said apparatus comprising a ribbon and drawstring supply,motor means, a ribbon bonding assembly for bonding said ribbon materialstogether at' spaced points, a ribbon advancing means and a ribboncut-off means. A simple-method of forming decorative.

bows from the prefabricated bow forms is also disclosed, said methodcomprising accumulating the bonded areas of said prefabricated bow formsone upon another, simultaneously forming-loops of ribbon on either sideof said bonded areas, by means of the drawstring.

4 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures PAIENIEBFEB 5 um sum 2 or 4 FIG. 6

APPARATUS-FOR PRODUCING PREFABRICATEI) BOWS This is a division ofapplication Ser. No. 320, filed Jan. 2, 1970, now U.S. Pat. No.3,637,455, which is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No.791,992,

filed .Ian. 17, 1969, and now abandoned.

The present invention relates to the art of gift wrapping packages andprovides a method and apparatus for mechanically producing ornamentalbows.

In recent years the gift wrapping of packages both at the point ofpurchase and by the product manufacturer every working day. Others havemade'a business of fabricating decorative bow structures in massquantities for sale tohome users, so that the latter can wrap their owngifts and packages, and formulate their own decorative displays withouthaving to tie or fabricate decorative bows themselves.

Such wide and increasing commercial usage of decorative'ribbon productsrequire that the decorative bow structures be susceptible to productionin large quantities in a relatively short time. The fewer manualoperations involved the better- However, in order to be sufficientlyaesthetically pleasing and unique so that'the purchasing public iswilling to use the bow products on personal gifts and packages, the bowsmust be individualistic in appearance, that is, they should not bestereotyped or non-personal. Ordinarily, mass production, on the onehand, and the provision of attractive, unique, individualistic andartistic appearing bow products, on the other, are antagonistic desired.The present invention is especially concerned with the mutualsatisfaction ofthese wants.

Various literature articles and patents have issued from time to timeover recent years relating to the provision of decorative bow structuresand to machines and devices for making the same. The ornamental pompomor puff bows and star bows have become quite popular. This popularity isdue, in large part, to the ease and speed with which pompon bows can beformed from a prefabricated bank of ribbon or by machines in the case ofthe star bows. Most recently, machines for making pompon or puff bowshave come into use. It must be recognized, however, that completelyformed machine fabricated bows require an inordinate amount of storagespace and care must be exercised in handling such completed bows lestthey are crushed or otherwise damaged.

In contrast, formal or tailored bows are typically fashioned by handfrom a plurality of loops of ribbon of different lengths lineallysuperimposed one upon another with the smallest loop on top, the centerof the loop stack being then held together with a constraining devicewhich maybe a band of ribbon material or a decorative band. Although theformal or tailored bow is well accepted and desired by a large majorityof people, it has not been commercially available in great quantitiesdue to the large amount of manual operations required in the fabricatingprocess and the fragile nature of the ribbon loops.

The present invention provides simple apparatus for mechanicallyfabricating partially completed formal bows (prefabricated bow forms orpre-bows) and provides a method for producing formal bows.

The present invention also provides apparatus for mechanicallyfabricating pre-bows of the pompon or puff bows and provides a uniquemethodfor producing pompon or puff bows.

The present invention possesses a number of advantages, among which arethe following:

1. A large number of pre-bows, along with a selection of constrainingdevices for formal bows can be made conveniently available to the userin a relatively small container or containers 2. Shipping and handlingof the bonded flat pre-bows reduces to a minimum the possibilityofmutilation or degradation of the aesthetic. value of the completedbows.

3. Themethod for forming the completed bows is so simple that the userneed not have special skills or above average manual dexterity to formthe bow in minimal time.

4. The ribbon material used for. the bow may be either one sided or twosided, i.e., ribbons finished on one face or on both faces.

5. Since the ribbon material input is in pairs, either ribbon can bechanged so as to produce .a bow construction having dissimilar colors,textures, patterns or materials from one'side to the other.

6. The number of bonded areas and the distance between them may bevaried to produce bows with a corresponding varied number and size ofloops.

7; The distance between the final bonded area and the end of thebow tailof formal pre-bows can be lengthened sufficiently to provide the bowwith its own facility for banding to the package to which it isto beattached.

The invention will be more readily understood from the followingdetailed description and disclosure, especially in light of theaccompanying drawings, wherein like numerals refer to correspondingparts in the several diagrammatic views, in which: 7

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a machine of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of the machine of FIG. 1;

.FIG. 3 is an end elevational view of the ribbon bonding mechanism takenalong line 3-3 and in the direction shown in FIG. ,1; I

FIG. 4 is an'enlarged side view of the heat-sealing device taken along,line 44 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is an end elevational view of the ribbon advancing means takenalong line 55 of FIG, 1;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the ribbon cut-off means taken along theline 6--6 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of the ribbon advancing means and the ribboncut-off means taken along the FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic view of anotherembodiment of a machine of the present invention particularly suited forthe fabrication of pompon bows;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the pre-bow for pompon bows fabricatedby the machine of FIG. 11 with portions of the ribbon material removed;

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of the pre-bow of FIG. 12 in the processof being converted into a pompon bow; and

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the completed pompon bow.

Referring now to the drawings, the machine comprises a base 11 uponwhich is mounted ribbon supply means 20, motor means 29, ribbon bondingassembly 38, ribbon advancing means 60 and ribbon cut-off means 70.

Ribbon supply means 20, in the embodiment shown in the drawings,comprises a plate member 21 suitably affixed to base 11. Ribbon spindles22 and 23 and drawstring spindle 24 are mounted onto plate member 21 toremovably rotatably accommodate the necessary ribbon and drawstringsupply rolls. Also mounted onto plate member 21 are ribbon guide members25 and 26 as well as drawstring guide member27, all in the form ofspindles. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, ribbon guide member26 is supported by arm 28 affixed to drawstring guide member 27. Ribbonguide member 26 is additionally provided with a grooved plate (notshown) which centers the drawstring as the composite of ribbons anddrawstring are drawn into the machine.

Motor meas 29, as shown, is a reciprocating air motor having an aircylinder 30, a reciprocating drive shaft 31 to which is attached afollower shaft 32 and guide rail 33. Follower shaft 32 is provided witha collar 34 which is rigidly secured to follower shaft 32 on one end andslidably rides guide rail 33 on the other end. A return stroke collar 35and an advance stroke collar 36 are affixed onto guide rail 33 and serveto determine the length and position of the stroke of drive shaft 31.Microswitch 37 is electrically connected to clamp air cylinder 30through a solenoid (not shown) and is mounted on plate member 21 and isarranged so that its contact is actuated by return stroke collar 35. Theforwardmost end of drive shaft 31 is suitably rigidly secured to ribbonbonding assembly 38 which accordingly reciprocates with drive shaft 31.It is, of course, possible to substitute any of a number of equivalentmotive means to effectthe reciprocating action required of motor means29, and such alternatives are contemplated.

Ribbon bonding assembly 38 which heat bonds the ribbon structure atspaced points comprises a clamp frame 39, clamp air cylinder 45 andsealing pad assembly 47. Clamp frame 39 is an open generally rectangularbox-likeframe member without a bottom frame. One forward leg member 40is provided with an elongated clamp foot 41, the ends of which areslightly upwardly bent. Each of the leg members, 40 and 40a of clampframe 39 (or a supporting plate. as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) is providedwith an aperture 42 through which slide rods 43 which are affixed tobase member 11 are passed and which guide clamp frame 39 as itreciprocates. Mircoswitch 44 is electrically connected to cut-off aircylinder 71 through a solenoid (not shown) and is mounted on base member11 and the contact thereof is actuated by clamp foot 41 as it passesthereover during the forward and backward movement of clamp frame 39.

Clamp air cylinder 45 is securely attached to clamp frame 3.9 and has adrive shaft 46, to the end of which is suitably affixed sealing padassembly 47. Sealing pad assembly 47 comprises a support channel 48having'upturned flanges 49 along the longitudinal edges thereof. Heatersupport plate 50 is carried by upturned flanges 49 within supportchannel 48 and is coextensive with said channel. Sealing pads 51, 52 and53 are in turn carried by support plate 50 and are affixed thereto aswith bolts 54 and angular support brackets 55. As will be clearly seenin FIG. 4, sealing pads 51, 52 and 53 are prisms having six faces andtwo ends, the cross section of which has a compound shape of a rectangleon a .trapezoid, but may take any number of shapes. These sealing pads51, 52 and 53 are constructed of a heatconducting material, e.g.,aluminum. In the embodiment shown'in the drawings, the bottom or ribboncontacting face of sealing pads 51, 52 and 53 is a rectangle whoselengthwise dimension is perpendicular to the ribbon length and whosecrosswise dimension is approximately one-eighth inch. In addition,sealing pads 52 and 53 are provided with rectangular relief slots suchas 53a at-their midpoints, said relief slots being slightly wider thanthe drawstring. Brackets 55 .are insulated from sealing pads 51, 52 and53 by a suitable insulating material such as asbestos sheeting 56. Asuitable thermostatically controlled electric heating element 57 isprovided in the apex of sealing pads 51, 52 and 53.

Clamp bed 58 is affixed at about the midpoint of each leg member ofclamp frame 39, as by welding, and is generally U-shaped with the legsof the U downwardly inclined. A resilient thermal and mechanicalinsulating pad 59, e.g., of nylon, is adhesively or otherwise attachedto the exposed upper surface of clamp bed 58. While heat bonding andmeans for accomplishing same have been described herein, it is possibleto bond the ribbon materials by other means such as with adhesives,adhesive tape or strip material and by solvent bonding particularlysince the bonded areas are completely concealed in the completed bowform.

Ribbon advancing means 60 comprises a shaft 61, one-way bearings 62which transmit torque to shaft 61 only for clockwise rotation, a freebearing 63, a pulley 64, pulley belt 65 and a rubber drive wheel 66securely fastened to shaft 61. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, ribbonadvancing means 60 is mounted onto base 1 1 by supporting members 67.Ribbon guide 68 in the form of a channel with turned in edges (C-shaped)is located immediately beneath rubber drive wheel 66 and is carried onone end of brace member 69 which spans and is attached at its ends tosupporting members 67. At the other end, ribbon guide 68 is affixed toribbon cut-off means 70.

Ribbon cut-off means 70 comprises an air cylinder 71 having a driveshaft 72 to which is affixed cut-off assembly 73. Cut-off assembly 73comprises a mounting block 74 into which is removably inserted cuttingdies 75a and 75b. Cutting dies 75a and 75b are typically fabricated outof stainless steel blade stock and are provided with apertures forattachment to mounting block 74 with screws. Cutting die 75a is arrangedperpendicular to the direction of travel of the ribbon materials andcutting die 75b is arranged at an angle of about 45 to the direction oftravel. The exhaust manifold of air cylinder 71 is connected to a lengthof hose76, the free pad, e.g., of nylon, to protect cutting dies 75a and75b against excessive wear. Another equally effective method of cuttingthe composite ribbon structure is by r the use of scissor blades,wherein one set of blades is mounted in fixed position onto frame 78 andthe other set of blades is mounted onto mounting block 74.

In operating the bow forming machine of the present invention, asuitable air'supply source (not shown) is connected to motor means 29,clamp air cylinder 45 and cutoff air cylinder 71. A suitable electricalpower source is provided for heating elements 57 of sealing pads 51, 52and 53.

Ribbon material 101 and 102, which may be of a single-sided constructionor of double sided construction, in roll form are mounted onto ribbonspindles 22 and 23, respectively. Ribbon roll 101 is mounted as shown inFIG. 1 to feed the ribbon with its decorative side uppermost; ribbonroll 102 is mounted to feed the ribbon with its decorative side facingdownward; Drawstring material 103 is mounted on spindle 24 and may bemounted to feed in either direction. Drawstring material 103 shown inthe drawings is a thin narrow strip material of the type commonly usedin easy open packages but may, of course, be a string or thread.

When the air supply and electrical power is turned on, the drive shaft31 of reciprocating air motor 29 is caused to travel back and forth inlinear fashion. The length and position of the strokes are go'vemed bythe position of the return stroke collar 35 and advance stroke collar36. Ribbon bonding assembly 38 which .is securely fastened to the airmotor drive shaft 31 is likewise caused to re ciprocate in similarfashion.-

Ribbons 101 and 102 and drawstrings 103 are fed around and through guidemembers 25, 26 and 27, respectively, and then through one-way brake 104,thence between sealing pads 51,- 52 and 53 and clamp bed 58, and underdrive wheel 66 of ribbon advancing means 60. v

When the air supply and electrical power source is turned on with thebow forming machine 10 at the posi tion shown in'FlG. l, driveshaft 31and ribbon bonding assembly 38 advances (toward the left in FIG. 1)-withsealing pad assembly 47 in the down position pressing the composite ofribbons 101 and 102 and drawstring 103 against clamp bed 58. Sealing padassembly 47 was moved to its down position by the actuation ofmicroswitch 37 by return stroke collar 35. As ribbon bonding assembly 38advances, pulley belt 65, one end 80 of which isfastened torea'r clampframe leg 400, causes rubber drive wheel-66 to rotate in the clockwisedirection thus advancing ribbons 101 and 102 and drawstring 103 withinribbon guide 68 toward and through ribbon-cut-off means 70. As driveshaft 31 and clamp frame 38 continues its forward motion, clamp foot 41rides over and trips microswitch 44. However, since microswitch 44 isconnected in series withmicroswitch 37, which at this momentis still inan actuated position, microswitch 44 does not actuate cut-off aircylinder 71.

At the forwardmost travel of drive shaft 31, collar 34 on follower shaft32 engages advance stroke collar 36 thus driving guide rail-33 andreturn stroke collar 35 forward thereby deactivating mircoswitch 37 andcausing clamp air cylinder45 to raise sealing pad assembly 47. It willbe seen that sealing pad assembly has been in the operative (down)position for the duration of the entire advance stoke. Thus, thecomposite of ribbon 101 and 102 and drawstring 103 is heat bondedtogether at bond areas 111,112 and 113, by the action of heat from heatelements 57 in sealing pads 51, 52 and.53, the pressure between saidsealing pads and clamp bed 58 and the-dwell time, which is determined bythe duration of the advance stroke. It is obvious that the temperaturerange of heater elements 57, the amount of pressure'applied by sealingpads 51, 52 and 53 and the dwell time must be determined from thecharacteristics of the. ribbon materials 101 and 102. For Sasheen Brandribbon material, a temperature of about 400F., a clamp air cylinderpressure of about psi gauge and a dwell time of about 4 seconds wasfound to provide satisfactory bonds between ribbons 101 and 102. Thedeactivation of microswitch 37 now completes the'series circuit tomicroswitch 44 which, however, is in a deactivated position at this timesince clamp foot 41 has passed beyond microswitch 44.

After drive shaft 31 has reachedits forwardmost point, drive shaft 31begins its return stroke. Clamp frame 38, of course, also begins tomove'in the return direction. Clamp foot 41' again, rides over and tripsmicroswitch 44 actuating cut-off air cylinder 71 to bring cutting dies75a and 75b into contact with the ribbon structure. After clamp foot 41passes beyond microswitch 44, microswitch '44' is again. deactivated.

Pulley belt 65, the other end 81 of which is fastened to leg 40, rotatespulley 64 in a counter-clockwise direction but doesnot rotate shaft 61and rubber drive wheel 66 due to one-way bearings 62.

. One-way brake 104 comprising a leaf spring which bears against thesurface of clamp bed 58 grips the .composite ribbon structure and causesit to travel along with clamp frame 38 during the advance stroke. Onewaybrake 104 freely allows the ribbon structure to slide with respect tothe clamp bed 38 in the reverse stroke direction. One-way brake 104-alsoisolates the rearmost sealing pad 53 from the unwind tension zone thuseliminating possible distortion, elongation or fracture of the ribbons101 and 102 and drawstring 103 during the bonding operation. One-waybrake 104 may also take the form of an eccentrically mounted roll havingone or more O-rings of rubber or other high friction material mounted onthe roll for contact with the ribbon material.

Ribbon cut-off means 70, as previously noted, is actuated when clampfoot 41 passes over microswitch 44 on the return stroke. Cutting dies75a and 7512 are arranged so that a straight cu't transverse to theribbon is effected at the leading edge of the bow structure on theincoming side of the die and an. angular cut (about 45) on the trailingedge of the bow structure leaving the die. The transverse cut iseffected at the leading edge of the heat-seal bond made by theforwardmost sealing pad 51; The substantially right triangular ribbonchips and the short length of the drawstring produced in the cuttingoperation is blown clear by the exhaust pulse produced from cut-off aircylinder 71 through hose 76.

The completed pre-bows 110 are allowed to fall from ribbon cut-oft means70 down chute 105 into a catch box 106, which may be a packing containerfor the prebows.

As will be clearly seen from FIG. 8, the pre-bow I comprises two stripsof ribbonrna terial 101 and 102, of

the same or different colors, and a drawstring 103 bonded together atthree spaced points 111, 112 and 113. The bonded area 111 is continuousand extends across the entire width of pre-bow 110. In contrast bondedareas 112 and 113, although extending across the width of pre-bow 1 10,is segmented at the midpoint so that drawstring 103 is constrained bythe bonded areas 112 and 113 but not bonded thereby. Segmented bonds 112and 113 are formed by the middle and rear sealing pads 52 and 53 whichare provided with relief slots such as 53a (FIG. 3) at their midpoints.

One method of forming the tailored bow 115 of the present invention isas follows: ribbon material 101 (or 102) is grasped between the thumband index finger of one hand immediately below bonded area 113 (as seenin FIG. 9) with either the thumb or index finger inserted between thetwo strips of ribbon material 101 and 102, and with the remaining threefingers on the opposite side of ribbon material 102 (or 101). Drawstring103 is then grasped between the thumb and index finger of the other handand gently pulled. As drawstring 103 is thus gradually pulled, loops 116will be formed by the ribbon material between bonds 113 and 112immediately above bond 1 13. As the pulling is continued, loops 117 willbe formed by the ribbon material between bonds 112 and 111 immediatelyabove and in an aligned and stacked relationship to loops 116. Whendrawstring 103 is pulled to its full extent such that bonds113, 112 and111 are tightly pressed together in stacked relationship, the bow isregrasped by moving the thumb over and onto superimposed bonds 111, 112and 113 and the remaining fingers are placed immediately between ribbon101 and 102. At that point, drawstring 103 may be cut off at bond 1'13or may be forcefully pulled whereupon it'will be released from bond 111.The thusforrned bow can be fastened together by various means'at itscenter so as to restrain the ribbons from returning to their originalflat position. A decorative band 118 in the form of a bend-over strip ordecorative ribbon material is placed around the loop stack at the bowcenter to conceal bond areas 111, 112 and 113 to thus form the completedtailored bow 115. The decorative band 118 may be provided with apressure' sensitive adhesive coating protected by a covering strip toprovide a convenient means of adhering the bow 115 to a package.

Another and perhaps easier method of forming bow 115 is to graspdrawstring 103 immediately beneath bond 113 with the fingers of one handwhile holding drawstring 103 at its extreme end in the other hand andpushing against bond 113 until loops 116 and 117 are formed andaccumulated in stacked relationship. The bow 115 is then completed ashereinabove described.

Referring now to FIG 1 1 which diagrammatically illustrates apparatusfor producing prefabricated pompon bow forms or pre-bows, the apparatuswill be seen to comprise ribbon spindles 122 and 123'and drawstringspindle 124. Ribbon guide members 125, 126 and 127 in the form ofspindles are also provided. Ribbon guide member 127 is additionallyprovided with a grooved central section (not shown) which acts as thedrawstring guide and centering means. In the specific embodimentillustrated, two pairs of driven squeeze rolls 128 and 129 are providedto pull the ribbon materials through the machine. Two additional pairsof intermittently driven squeeze rolls 130 and 131 provide the means forpassing the ribbon and drawstring composite into notcher assembly 132,momentarily stopping said compositein notcher assembly 132 at which timethe composite is suitably notched, and pulling the notched segment outof notcher assembly 132, the next segment of ribbon and drawstringcomposite being passed into said notcher assembly. Another pair ofdriven squeeze rolls 133, driven at the same speed as squeeze rolls 128and 129, acts to tension the ribbon prior to its being wound ontowind-up roll 134, also driven at about the same speed as squeeze rolls133. The machine also includes ribbons bonding assembly 138 which, in thembodiment illustrated, is a double orifice hot metal head which ispulsed to apply two spaced dots of hot adhesive onto one surface ofribbon, the spacing between the dots of adhesive being such that thedrawstring will not be bonded to the ribbon. A single orifice hot melthead 139 which is also pulse regulated applies a single dot of adhesivecentrally disposed across the ribbon width at the starting point of eachpre-bow to bond the drawstring to the ribbon.

It will be understood that suitable motor means is provided to drive thesqueeze rolls 128, 129, 130, 131 and 133, notcher assembly 132 andwind-up roll 134. In addition, the motor means may also be used to pulsethe hot melt heads 138 and 139 through appropriate cam or othermechanical means, Alternatively, the hot melt heads 138 and 139 may bepulsed through an appropriate electrical timer.

The machine illustrated in FIG. 11 operates in substantially thefollowing manner. Ribbon materials 201 and 202, which may be of eithersingle sided or double sided construction, in roll form are mounted ontoribbon spindle 122 and 123 respectively. Where single sided ribbonmaterial, which is the preferred material, is used, the ribbon rolls 201and 202 are mounted as shown so that the decorative side of the ribbonis outermost. Drawstring material 203 is mounted on spindle 124 and maybe mounted to feed in either direction.

Ribbons 201 and 202 I and drawstring 203 are threaded around guidemembers 125, 1 26 and 127, respectively, and thence successively throughsqueeze rolls 128 and 129; a slack loop being formed-between squeezerolls 129 and the composite of ribbons 201 and 202 and the drawstring203is fed through squeeze'rolls and into and through notcher assembly 132,through squeeze rolls 131 and 133 with a slack loop therebetween.

With the appropriate power sources .turned on, driven squeeze rolls 128and 129 begin to pull ribbons 201 and 202 and drawstring 203 through themachine. Double orifice hot melt head 138 is actuated and applies twospaced dots of adhesive 211 and 212 on the upper surface of ribbon 202.Single orifice hot melt head 139 is actuated to apply a dot of adhesive213 centrally of dots 211 and 212 on the upper surface of ribbon 202.When ribbon 202 with adhesive dots 211, 212, and 213 applied theretoreaches squeeze rolls 128, drawstring 203 and ribbon 201 .aresuperimposed thereupon and are bonded together during passage throughsqueeze rolls 128. Squeeze rolls 128 may, if desired, be chilled toaccelerate bonding of the composite of ribbons 201 and 202 anddrawstring 203. The thus bonded composite then passes through squeezerolls 129 and 130 and into notcher assembly 132. Notcher assembly 132,through appropriate cams or other mechanical or electrical means isactuated to notch the bonded composite of ribbons 201 and 202 anddrawstring 203 with a pair of notches 214 and 215, the notches beinglocated such that substantially all of the ribbon material immediatelyoutward of adhesive dots bly 132 to be actuated.

Pre-bow 210 is typically fabricated to comprise l segments of ribbon toproduce a pompon bow having 20 loops. The number of loops may, ofcourse, be varied to produce pompon bows having any desired degreeoffullness. For a 20 loop pompon bow the single orifice hot melt head139 would be sequentially actuated at the beginning of the operatingcycle (as hereinabove described) and again after each 10 actuatingcycles of double orifice hot melt head 138. Double orifice hot melt head138 would be actuated to place adhesive dots 211 and 212 at selectedequidistantly spaced points along the length of ribbon 202. The spacedpoints would, of course, be selected so as to produce loops having thedesired length. For example, if one desired to produce a pomponbowhaving inch loops, the double orifice hot melt head 138 would beactuated to place adhesive dots 211 and 212 at 5 inch intervals. Ateach55 inch interval, single orifice hot melt head 139 would be actuated toplace adhesive dot 213 centrally of adhesive dots 211 and 212 so thatdrawstring 203 would be bonded tothe ribbons 201 and 202 to producepre-bows in a continuous process.

In one method offashioning a pompon bow from prebow 210, a singlepre-bow consisting of a fully bonded end 216 (i.'e., the end wherein thedrawstring 203 is bonded to the ribbons 201-and 202) and segments ofribbon wherein the drawstring is unbonded to the ribbons, unwound fromthe supply roll of pre-bows fabricated as above described and cut offtherefrom, is grasped with the fingers of one hand at the bonded areafarthest removed from fully bonded end 216 such that the ends of ribbons201 and 202 are separated and drawstring 203 is exposed. Drawstring 203is then grasped between the thumb and index finger of the other hand andsteadily pulled to form loops L from the ribbn segment between thebonded areas. In the formation of loops L, the notches 214 and 215permit the loops to rotate and orient themselves to form pompon bow 217,the individual loops thereof being uniformly dispersed about the centerof the bow. After loops L have been formed and accumulated and pomponbow 217 formed, the drawstring is securely fastened at the bottom of thebow. This can be conveniently accomplished with a small square card (notshown) having a slot therein to its approximate midpoint, the drawstringthen-being wound about said card and inserted into the slot where it isfrictionally retained. The card may have a pressure-sensitive adhesivecoating on one side thereof protected by a suitable liner material foreasy attachment of the completed pompon how 217 to a package.

What is Claimed is:

1. Apparatus for producing prefabricatedbow forms from two continuouslengths of ribbon comprising ribbon support means for receiving androtatably supporting two supply rolls of ribbon and a spindle forreceiving and rotatably supporting a drawstring supply roll, ribbonbonding means for bonding said two ribbons in back .to back relationshipat spaced points along their lengths comprising a first adhesivedispensing assembly having two spaced orifices tranversely disposedrelative to the ribbon length and a secondadhesive dispensing assamblyhaving a single orifice for dispensing adhesive centrally of said twospaced orifices, ribbon advancing means for intermittently advancingsaid ribbons into and through said ribbon bonding means, and ribboncut-off means for separating the bondedribbons into prefabricated bowforms.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1 additionally including a ribbonnotching assembly for excising a major portion of said ribbons at thespaced bonded areas along their lengths.

3. Apparatus according to claim 1 wherein said ribbon advancing meanscomprises a pull wheel having a one-way clutch for intermittentlyadvancing the superimposed ribbon and drawstring composite into andthrough said ribbon bonding means, and including motor means forsequentially actuating said ribbon bonding means, ribbon advancing meansand ribbon cut-off means. y

4. Apparatus for producing prefabricated bow forms from two continuouslengths of ribbon and a drawstring, said apparatus comprising aplurality of spindles for receiving and rotatably supporting two supplyrolls of ribbon and a supply roll of drawstring, guide means forsuperimposing'said ribbons into back to back relationship with saiddrawstring centrally disposed therebetween, ribbon bonding means, ribbonadvancing means and ribbon notching means, said ribbon bonding meansbeing a first adhesive dispensing assembly having two spaced orificestransversely disposed relative to the ribbon length and a secondadhesive dispensing assembly having a single orifice for dispensingadhesive centrally of said two spaced orifices, said ribbon advancingmeans being a plurality of driven squeeze rolls and motor means forsequentially actuating said ribbon bonding means and ribbon advancingmeans.

1. Apparatus for producing prefabricated bow forms from two continuouslengths of ribbon comprising ribbon support means for receiving androtatably supporting two supply rolls of ribbon and a spindle forreceiving and rotatably supporting a drawstring supply roll, ribbonbonding means for bonding said two ribbons in back to back relationshipat spaced points along their lengths comprising a first adhesivedispensing assembly having two spaced orifices tranversely disposedrelative to the ribbon length and a second adhesive dispensing assamblyhaving a single orifice for dispensing adhesive centrally of said twospaced orifices, ribbon advancing means for intermittently advancingsaid ribbons into and through said ribbon bonding means, and ribboncut-off means for separating the bonded ribbons into prefabricated bowforms.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1 additionally including a ribbonnotching assembly for excising a major portion of said ribbons at thespaced bonded areas along their lengths.
 3. Apparatus according to claim1 wherein said ribbon advancing means comprises a pull wheel having aone-way clutch for intermittently advancing the superimposed ribbon anddrawstring composite into and through said ribbon bonding means, andincluding motor means for sequentially actuating said ribbon bondingmeans, ribbon advancing means and ribbon cut-off means.
 4. Apparatus forproducing prefabricated bow forms from two continuous lengths of ribbonand a drawstring, said apparatus comprising a plurality of spindles forreceiving and rotatably supporting two supply rolls of ribbon and asupply roll of drawstring, guide means for superimposing said ribbonsinto back to back relationship with said drawstring centrally disposedtherebetween, ribbon bonding means, ribbon advancing means and ribbonnotching means, said ribbon bonding means being a first adhesivedispensing assembly having two spaced orifices transversely disposedrelative to the ribbon length and a second adhesive dispensing assemblyhaving a single orifice for dispensing adhesive centrally of said twospaced orifices, said ribbon advancing means being a plurality of drivensqueeze rolls and motor means for sequentially actuating said ribbonbonding means and ribbon advancing means.